F.DITORIAL / OPINION
MIRROR - Thursday, September 2, 2010 17
The evolutions of the United States and China
Fareed Zakaria of CNN had as his guest Sunday,
Robert D. Kaplan. They were talking about China.
From all I read or see, it seems generally accepted that
China is emerging into a major world power rivaling
the United States. China&apos;s population dwarfs that of
the United States. China is a major creditor of the
United States. Americans bolster China's rise in the
global picture by buying Chinese products in the retail
markets such as Wal-Mart.
With that in mind I watched Zakaria and Kaplan.
Zakaria seemed to have my same frame of mind, how
is it that China is becoming such an influence on the
world stage and what does it mean?
Kaplan wrote an article published in Foreign
Affairs in May/June 2010 which can be read on the
CNN website at http://www.foreignaffairscomJ
articles/66205/robert-d-kaplan/the-geography-of-
chinese-power#.
Citing English geographer Sir Halford Mackinder
and his famous 1904 article, "The Geographical Pivot
of History," explained that China located in Eurasia,
is in the "geostrategic fulcrum of world power."
China has a 9,000-mile temperate coastline with
many good natural harbors. It is both a land power
and a sea power. MacKinder predicted "China would
eventually guide the world by 'building for a quarter
of humanity a new civilization, neither quite Eastern
nor quite Western.'"
With China's centralized government it can expand
in ways that "democracies" cannot. But China
is absorbing Western technology and practices,
integrating them "into a disciplined and elaborate
cultural system" forming relationships with other
nations.
Kaplan noted the United States grew steadily in the
19th century by trading with the outside world. China's
ambitions "are as aggressive as those of the United
States in the 19th century. China doesn't seek to spread
Nye - Eafeway to
Nevada's Rurais
by lack Wood
"an ideology or a system of government" as the United
States does. Witness the avowed reasons of the United
States in Afghanistan and Iraq to establish a democracy
along the lines of that of the United States.
China is "prolelled by its need to secure energy,
metals and strategic minerals in order to support the
rising living standards of its immense population,
which amounts to about one-fifth of the world's
total."
I don't hear those kinds of goals being pursued by
the government of the United States. China's global
"scouring for resources" will bring it into conflict with
the "missionary-oriented" United States. Makes some
sense to me. Since World War II the United States has
resorted to wars rather than building its own resources
as evidenced by the Vietnam, Korean wars and now
the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The wars in Vietnam
and Korea were avowed to be to stop communism.
In Afghanistan and Iraq to fight terrorism and spread
democracy. Huge amounts of the U.S. treasury and
lives have been spent in all four wars, all occurring
within my lifetime.
No wonder the U.S. economy has been in the tank.
The U.S. focus has been outward rather than inward
all these years, fighting wars. China is currently
mining for copper near Kabul in Afghanistan and
"has its eye on the region's iron, gold, uranium and
precious gems" while the U.S. chugs away militarily
in its pursuits. Meanwhile China is expanding its
Navy to control seaports around the south of the Asian
continent all the way up to the Persian Gulf increasing
its influence to the Eurasian border. All of which can
jeopardize the stability among the Asian nations.
Yes, times are changing. Relationships between
large nations are undergoing revis.ion. Economies of
the several nations will also evolve into a different
shape following the global recession. If you are so
inclined read Kaplan's article. It will leave you with
food for thought.
You are welcome to read more about this and other
matters on the Nye-Gateway to Nevada's Rurals blog
at http://nyegateway.com. You can also follow me on
Twitter at http://twitter.com/Featheriver. You tufty, in
addition, email me at featheriver@hughes.net.
Remembering
Pas00
John Weisser
responsible for the killing of six people and numerous
forest fires in the Northwest. Over 1,600 Balloon
Bombs were initially released as terror weapons
by Japan and hundreds ultimately made their way
successfully across the ocean. There were six recorded
balloon finds in Nevada and one was recorded as
landing south of Indian Springs and found on July 20,
1944. Most civilian sightings of these strange devices
looked similar too and were reported as parachutes.
The government kept information about the balloons
top secret during the war so as not to panic the civilian
population.
Lt. Smith was flying low up the western slopes of
Mt. Charleston searching for the 'parachute' when he
crashed. The propellers of the AT- 11 were not damaged,
indicating that they were not turning when the aircraft
came down. The most probable explanation lays
with the co-pilot Beverly Moss, a WASP (Woman's
Auxiliary Service Pilot). Moss had been assigned to
the LVAAF for only a week before and this was her
initial flight.in an AT- 11.
Lt. Smith, when flying up Woods Canyon, would
most likely have called for increased power to get over
the approaching 8,000 ft. peak. Moss had been trained
on an AT-10 (Cessna Bobcat.) To increase power in an
AT- 10 the fuel controls are pushed forward. In an AT-
11 the controls are pulled back. This mistake of habit
would have cut power to the engines shutting them
off and at low altitude there was not time to restart
the engines.
Due to the pilot's skill, the plane made a "soft
pancake landing" and the crew would have survived
the initial impact. There was, "no damage done to the
structure of the AT-11. On the underside of the aircraft,
there were no dents or scratches, and even the lights
under the craft were not broken." Unfortunately, a
rock ruptured the fuel tank in the wing and the three
crewmembers in the nose of the aircraft perished. The
passenger was found laying half in and half out of
the aircraft's only door located in the middle of the
fuselage.
The official report filed by Colonel Henry states
that the six occupants of the AT-11 were killed in the
crash while still strapped in their seats and all the long
bones (arms and legs) were broken during the crash.
As the reader has now noticed the official report
differs from the accounts of Lt. Springham who led
the rescue team. Many of the photographs taken of the
crash site by Lt. Spingham still exist and clearly depict
an intact aircraft that had burned. One photograph
shows a body lying in the open side door of the AT-11.
However, Lt. Springham's report no longer exists. It
was immediately destroyed and replaced by the report
written by Colonel Henry and two assisting air force
Majors. None of these men had been to or flown over
the crash site.
Only torsos were left of the four bodies located
.at the site. There could not have been any broken
arms and legs as stated in Colonel Henry's official
report, and where were the bodies of the additional
two passengers listed in the 'official report?' Lt.
Springham was not told how many airmen were on the
AT-11 when he started up the mountain. He assumed
everyone perished in the fire and that all bodies were
recovered, but two men obviously survived and exited
the burning aircraft.
Did Colonel Henry intentionally leave these two men
to perish? What happened to them? Why destroy Lt.
Springham's eyewitness report and replace it with one
containing so many discrepancies? What happened to
the six bodies? Why did the U.S. Air Force send up
a team to the crash site 48 years later to sanitize the
area? Intrigued? Learn more next week only in The
Mirror.
call on July 20, 1944 from Colonel George Henry
commander of the Las Vegas Army Air Field (since
renamed Nellis Air Force Base). Lt. Springham was
to lead a team of twenty soldiers up Woods Canyon,
located on the Pahrump side of Mount Charleston, to
the site of a crashed AT- 11 aircraft. A circling aircraft
would direct the men aiding their progress up the
canyon.
The terrain was so rough and the climb so difficult
that only Lt. Springham and an accompanying medic
were able to reach the crash site located just below the
8,000-foot level. The twin-engine plane was found to
be remarkably intact, but a fire trapped the pilot, co-
pilot and bombardier in their respective compartments.
One additional body was located laying half way out
the only door on the side of the aircraft. Four body
bags containing the torsos (the arms and legs were
consumed by the fire) were brought back to the Indian
Spring Base.
The AT-11 began in 1937 as a Beechcraft Model 18
used primarily for commercial short haul transportation
with arange of 1,200 miles. During 1941 and 1945
the Army Air Corps purchased 1,582 of the planes at a
cost of $67,000 each. The AT-11 Kansen was primarily
used as a trainer for reconnaissance, bombing and
instrument training. Over 90 percent of the 45,000
USAAFs WWlI bombardiers received training in an
AT-11.
Colonel Henry and two other majors from LVAAF
filed what was to become the official report on the
investigation into the crash that occurred during a
"Routine Training Flight." After takeoff, the aircraft
made one stop at the Indian Springs sub-base; topped
off the tanks, and by 2:40 p.m. had resumed the
"training mission." At 3:51, pilot Lt. Frank Smith,
received new instructions from the LVAAF. The plane
was to "look for a parachute" spotted in the vicinity
of Mt. Charleston." A civilian reportedly called in the
sightirig from Las Vegas
The story becomes a little confusing at this point.
Take a step back and remember that Las Vegas was
a very small city in those days. Anyone seeing a
parachute would have had to be very close to the
mountains and the long drive over primarily dirt roads
back to Vegas would have taken considerable time.
However, Lt. Smith was looking for the parachute on
The call could not have come fromPahrump. In 1954
there was no phone service nor were there paved
roads in the Pahrmnp Valley that would have allowed
quick egress. A thorough review of Air Force records
showed no listing of any otherplane crash in Southern
Nevada during this period of time. Where did the
parachute originate? The source of the call also raises
questions.
The parachute may have actually been a Balloon
Bomb released by Japan and carried by the air currents
over the continental U.S. These exploding bombs Were
Lieutenant Jack Springham received a telephone the Pahrump side of the mountain when he crashed.
A routine training .flight - Crash of an AT-11